In an encouraging and uplifting turn of events, a school district in Texas has voted to return previously removed Bibles back onto their schools’ library shelves.
In April, the Denton Independent School District (ISD) received a Request for Reconsideration of Instructional Materials that called on the removal of the Bible and all related books. The district responded by removing all Bibles, including children’s Bibles, and placing them into a restricted area.
After Denton County Citizens Defending Freedom was informed by Moms for Liberty about the removals, the Denton team immediately reached out to district to request that the books be returned to shelves, as their removal was unconstitutional. In 2017, after requests for an interpretation of Texas Education Codes involving enrichment curriculum including religious literature, the Texas Attorney General ruled that all Texas school districts are required to include instruction on religious literature, including the Bible.
Additionally, the Denton County CDF team’s legal advisor issued a demand letter to Denton ISD on Sept. 14 requesting that immediate action be taken to return the Bibles and related materials to library shelves. The letter states that the bibles were removed without any public notification or hearing, which is in direct contrast to other recent requests to remove certain materials containing graphic sexual text and references from the curriculum and libraries which remain available.
The April Request for Reconsideration claims that the Bibles expose children to vulgarity, violence, incest, and many other sexually explicit descriptions and situations. While this one individual’s request was enough to immediately place all Bibles and related materials into a restricted area, Citizens Defending Freedom, Moms for Liberty, and countless Denton County citizens are still waiting for truly obscene and harmful books to be removed from shelves after submitting their own reconsideration requests.
On Sept. 26, Denton County CDF was notified by the Denton ISD that the Reconsideration Committee completed their review of the Bibles, and voted to keep them in circulation. This is a tremendous win, as district staff not only chose to uphold First Amendment and Constitutional rights, but they had the opportunity to read the Bible from cover to cover.
About Citizens Defending Freedom:
Founded in 2021, Citizens Defending Freedom is a non-profit organization that strategically operates in counties across America to help citizens defend their faith and freedom, all while fighting for transparency in local government. Currently, Citizens Defending Freedom is established in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Texas, with plans to continue expanding across America. Click here to learn more about Citizens Defending Freedom.